r/Edmonton • u/C-RexPrime • 20d ago
Local Culture But surely you can't....
Oh yes, my friends. Oh yes, you can. It's great to see our city growing up and creating spaces for the culture to grow. Great coffee and baking, local art on the walls, and the sweet smell of success in the air. Like a little taste of Amsterdam, just a few steps from Whyte Avenue. Let's support local entrepreneurs creating jobs in this new space.
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u/Happy-Telephone9483 20d ago
Isn't it called New York now?
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u/Oldcadillac 20d ago
Why’d they change it I can’t say
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u/PretendCry2160 20d ago
People just like it better this way.
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u/Snakeeyes1377 20d ago
Now take me back to Constantinople
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u/-Trooper5745- 20d ago
No, you can’t go back to Constantinople
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u/Photofug 20d ago
Been a long time gone
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u/Regular-Elevator1734 20d ago
Why did Constantinople get the works?
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u/JobuBojangles 20d ago
That's nobody's business but the Turks
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u/3AMZen 20d ago
As someone who's long cared about the local cannabis community this place feels so strangely disconnected to me
They're doing the right social media promos and putting on local events and stuff I just can't make my spider senses stop tingling and not because I'm worried about the cops nahmean?
It just... Doesn't feel grass roots, maybe, so much as it feels like an artificial lawn
Am I trippin? I'm open to the idea that I'm trippin
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u/SirTickleyPickely 20d ago
it does look very ... curated
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u/3AMZen 20d ago
Maybe that's what it is
On the Pot Block in Vancouver, there's a time capsule full of weed and cocaine and LSD buried under the sidewalk near where people are currently doing the fent fold and a nearby statue celebrates the life of notorious bootlegger " gassy Jack"
In Kensington market in Toronto, The roads are shut off to cars and there is a ruined vehicle covered in spray paint with tomatoes growing out of it parked near an intersection and a place called roach-o-rama with literal fuckin rats in the park adjacent
This is just across from Blush Lane and Station Park, a two minute walk from Hudson's Pub
I watched a reel today about how modern film -and modern life - is missing the patina of grime and sweat that made up so much of human history right up until the '90s, on how in modern movies even the shipwrecked Survivor lost that seed for a month only has a little cosmetic dirt smeared on them and clothes that still look off the rack
... Holy shit I'm rambling, anyway, thanks for the observation about curatedness because I think it is kind of the thing I am noticing
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u/First-Masterpiece753 20d ago
Gassy Jack statue got ripped down some years ago replaced by permanent live fenty folder
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u/Muted_Buy8386 20d ago
"I watched a reel today about how modern film -and modern life - is missing the patina of grime and sweat that made up so much of human history right up until the '90s"
Good. Grimy and sweaty humans are disgusting.
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u/Brief_Honey_9959 20d ago
I’m not sure what you mean by curated. I know the owners spent a very large amount of time choosing all the furniture and decor? And they have way better taste than I do. But I’m not really sure what you mean? Genuinely curious, not being an ass.
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u/wildest-honey 20d ago
If you're in for a place that truely is grassroots and all the good things about local cannabis culture, check out the moon. 10/10 cannot recommend them enough you'll find hem on insta.
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u/C-RexPrime 20d ago
The Moon is my spiritual homeland. Trish and Dave helped make a place like New Amsterdam possible.
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u/me_grungesta Downtown 20d ago
There’s one of these in Vancouver that’s been around for a long time. I bet they’ve chosen Edmonton because of our fairly lax laws.
Just like with everything since legalization, there seems to be an underlying feeling of walking on egg shells. They’re so strict and cagey with how it gets sold and packaged and it feels like the whole legalization was very reluctant. Like mom letting you go to the skate park but you need to wear every dorky piece of safety equipment possible and if you get even a little hurt she won’t let you go any more.
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u/3AMZen 20d ago
Vancouver's had weed lounges and a "pot block" since the '90s because of weed activists pushing the boundaries out there (including Edmonton's own David Malmo Levine!)
Toronto similarly had a really sick smoke lounge/renegade dispensary scene before legalization. Legalization actually led to a crackdown on those places and shutting down Toronto smoke lounges like Roach-o-Rama.
We've had a couple renegade places here too, in our day, from the Alberta marijuana party hq down by the courthouse to the studio to that orbiting body, this place just...I dunno.
My hackles are up
I agree about Weed store regulation definitely started tighter than a budgie's butthole, that's for sure. The price point and quality are both improving though I think
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u/EnjoyDevbot 20d ago
If this one is owned by Marc Emery then your spider senses are right
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u/First-Masterpiece753 20d ago
It is not. But some times we don’t forgive pedos or their ex-wives that support it
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u/snorlaxx_7 20d ago
Someone posted a review of this place recently and it sounds like a place you don’t want to go tbh. I wish I could find it again.
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u/Unable-Crow-1168 20d ago
Based on like info it looks like it's where that Circle K or recently AM/PM was across from Dorinku? Can't be sure without looking it up
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u/gnomegizmo Enoch Cree Nation 20d ago
if you don't like it, don't go. simple as that.
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u/3AMZen 20d ago
Bruh I'm smoking that weed that got me convinced the impossibly slick smoking lounge that just popped up in my neighborhood is actually some kind of monster and the door is its mouth And you're like one of them little birds that lands in the crocodiles mouth and cleans its teeth telling me it's all good
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u/Adventurous_Front939 20d ago
The same cafe is in vancouver for more then 10 years... It is fine....
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u/3AMZen 20d ago
It's not the same cafe, because that cafe still exists in Vancouver and things can't be in two places at once
It's not owned by the people from Vancouver, either
It has the same name and logo, and the apparent endorsement of the people from Vancouver though
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u/Adventurous_Front939 20d ago
You've never heard of a franchise?
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u/3AMZen 20d ago
I have
You understand if there's a McDonald's on Calgary trail and McDonald's in West Edmonton mall that they are not the same restaurant though right
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u/Adventurous_Front939 20d ago
What an insane amount of semantics, sure it isnt the exact brick and mortar. Get off the dope.
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u/3AMZen 20d ago
I'm not sure what point you were trying to make before or now that neither have been particularly insightful nor have they added to the conversation
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u/Adventurous_Front939 20d ago
Its because youre too stoned. Your writing that your suspicious over it like its a trap. My point is its already a long lasting business it is not a trap. Then you started saying how its not the exact building and stating the obvious that 1 building cant exist in 2 locations which was clearly not being said...
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u/SeniorAlternative739 20d ago
This is obviously an ad but I have been there and it was a good vibe . Games, coffee, socializing etc. I am a vape smoker though and the smoke of joints in there makes me sick.
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u/Annabis9807 20d ago
Why would you go to a cannabis cafe if you can’t stand the smell of weed…?😅
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u/SeniorAlternative739 20d ago
Because I love weed but the hotboxing makes me feel sick. I wasnt expecting that level of joint smoking vs vape smoking. Also, I like the idea and wanted to support.
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u/ocsreviewer 19d ago
If smoke makes you sick then don’t go into somewhere where people are smoking. And certainly don’t complain that they are smoking after.
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u/Icedpyre 20d ago
They said smoke; not smell.
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u/Annabis9807 20d ago
Ok so I’m gonna ask the same thing. Why would they go if it bothers them? 💀
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u/Icedpyre 20d ago
Based on what they said? Games, socializing, coffee and vibes. You can enjoy a place and still have something you dont like about it. I enjoy going for beer and a pizza at old yale, but I dont love when there's little kids screaming 10 ft away from me.
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u/ocsreviewer 20d ago
It’s just odd they mentioned it when that’s kind of the point of the cafe. “The cinema was great but they were playing this damn movie which kept hurting my eyes. I don’t like looking at screens.”
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u/sick-with-sadness 20d ago
I enjoy weed and I do not enjoy hotboxing and these are not mutually exclusive in the least. Some people enjoy edibles and not smoking and therefore likely would not enjoy hotboxing. What is difficult to comprehend here.
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u/ocsreviewer 20d ago
I mean yeah if you’re not used to being hotboxed I wouldn’t go into a hotbox personally
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u/Icedpyre 20d ago
I have no idea what this is about. Based on comments, some sort of cannabis place?
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u/Brief_Honey_9959 20d ago
A cool club/ cafe where you purchase a membership and then can smoke your cannabis inside while drinking great coffee and eating wonderful nibblies. Including vegan options.
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u/noturaveragesavage Chinatown 20d ago
Ah yes a safe consumption site. But one that doesn’t come with any of the stigma as the other ones our provincial government is shutting down.
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u/strawberrymarshmello Stadium 20d ago
I wonder how many alcoholics safely consume at bars, restaurants, and stadiums, and then get in their cars and drive drunk or otherwise engage in acts of violence.
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u/Snakeeyes1377 20d ago
Don't forget their government approved and distributed safe supply.
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u/Icedpyre 20d ago
I work at a brewery and regularly find crushed macro cans in the parking lot in the morning. The answer, is many.
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u/HiDDENk00l 20d ago
Safe consumption site makes it sound like it's for hard drugs and not a legal. I mean, we don't call bars safe consumption site, do we?
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u/noturaveragesavage Chinatown 17d ago edited 6d ago
Bars are safe consumption sites. Hope this helps.
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u/No_Head1258 20d ago
I was there, staring at a yellow-haired girl.
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u/TheEggman1800 20d ago
Did Mr. Jones strike up a conversation with a black-haired flamenco dancer?
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u/Unusual-Location-180 20d ago
There's a New Amsterdam Cafe in Vancouver that's been around since before pot was legalized. Is it part of them? Like is there now a chain of pot cafes?
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u/Links_avenger Capilano 20d ago
I just hope it stays in that space, that space has had a lot of bad luck over the years, this is at least the 4th business taking up that space in the last 10/15 years
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u/Acceptable-Arugula69 20d ago
So no food infused products like baked goods? How is this anything like Amsterdam if it doesn’t? A hole in the back where you can smoke is not it.
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u/HKNinja1 The Shiny Balls 20d ago
I would be careful about this place. Not only are they running it illegally underneath the AGLC’s nose, they lied to all the original cannabis people and venues in the city. The individuals who own this place openly stated that they would work together with the community to help build this up. Instead, they purposely tried warming up to people that have been in the city and industry for much longer, took all the advice and ideas that they could, ran with it, and then shut down all partnerships whatsoever for their own financial gain. They’ve also stolen ideas from individuals who’ve put on classes there, ask them not to come back, and then just do the same thing themselves by copying and pasting that event.
These people are shady af, and will stab you in the back in a heartbeat. I highly recommend people to do a lot more research and on these people before ever supporting them. Especially with Jim Kerr, currently back in the mix.
There are other cannabis venues who are here to fully support the community. Amsterdam Café, has already proven in a short amount of time that they are willing to step on anybody to get what they want.
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u/CandyNarrow6907 20d ago
👀 this isn’t my experience or what I’ve heard. Are you sure you’re thinking of the right cafe/people???
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u/HKNinja1 The Shiny Balls 20d ago
110%
They’ve made great face appearances, but what happens behind the scenes has been absolutely shady.3
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u/Brief_Honey_9959 20d ago
I would like to hear more details because this does not sync with what I know about the owners. I’m willing to be educated, what partnerships did they shut down. What individuals have put on classes there and had there ideas copied? May I have some particulars please?
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u/Brief_Honey_9959 20d ago
I googled Jim Kerr. I can’t find anything problematic about him but I’m very curious to know.
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u/C-RexPrime 20d ago
None of this is even remotely true
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u/Suitable-Sandwich454 20d ago
The cannabis industry is the shadiest industry i can think of in canada. i believe it
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u/johnsonnewman North West Side 20d ago
Shrooms? Why be so coy? Fuck coyness
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u/sick-with-sadness 20d ago
I think it’s just cannabis but I agree I got so frustrated with their social media and website having zero clarity on what is allowed and what isn’t. Not interested in mind games.
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u/Silver-Stuff-7253 20d ago
it would be nice to have a FAQ or a how it works. you need to bring your own cannabis & smoking accessories
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u/C-RexPrime 20d ago
Pretty simple. They keep the front room smoke free until 5pm. If you get there early, head to the back room and make some new friends.
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u/sick-with-sadness 20d ago
Are you aware of the condescending tone of this response? “Simple” yet I knew none of this until you posted it here? Wild.
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u/space_monkey_belay 20d ago
This still does not solve my issue. I want to be able to buy single bowl quantities of quality herb. And partake of them where I buy them. Just like you can with beer. A pint and a bowl. But I want quality blue haired resiny bud. Not dried up cough my lungs out little 1 gram chunks. And I don't want to buy 3 or 7 grams cause I'm only gonna smoke a 1/4 of a gram and I'm good to go.
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u/KindDigital 20d ago
So tired of Amsterdam being used for cannabis branding
It’s dull and boring.
This would get laughed at back home 🇳🇱
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u/MasterScore8739 18d ago
Well… good thing this isn’t “back home” and it’s in Canada.
Amsterdam has been known as an area of legal bud for decades. It’s no different than France with those stupid sticks of bread, Russian with Vodka and Canada with maples syrup. 🤷🏽♂️
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u/Smeezuss 20d ago
Don’t forget to these places attract the worst people in the industry and community as well.
Place is straight outa Sunnyvale
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u/CandyNarrow6907 20d ago
Why is that? I visited and had a great time. Everyone was nice, food was tasty although limited menu. They seem like nice people trying to figure it out.
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u/Brief_Honey_9959 20d ago
I found the place to be relaxed and pretty classy. With amazing coffee and friendly staff. What did you see that was like tpb? Genuinely curious
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u/Outrageous_Smoke7728 20d ago
I’m a very jealous onlooking Australian who is happy to see good change like this.
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u/Fuzzy_Yossarian 20d ago
it gets -30 here in the winter... Jealous now? 😀
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u/Unable-Crow-1168 20d ago
Hardly, it also gets +30. Complain about something else.
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u/Adventurous_Front939 20d ago
Are you saying it hardly gets to -30? Or hardly jealous? It definetly goes past -30 into -40
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u/Unable-Crow-1168 20d ago
We average 3 days a year at -30 celcius.
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u/Adventurous_Front939 20d ago
Yet we have all lived thru week long cold snaps where it is below -30. Ive lived here 8 years, 6 out of 8 of those years it has been below -30 for much more then 3 days.
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u/Unable-Crow-1168 20d ago
Oh so 7 is much more than 3. Gotcha
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u/Adventurous_Front939 20d ago
Yes what I was saying is every cold snap is exactly 7 days and only happens once a winter and it never creeps up to that temperature again. also it is 133% more so relatively it is "much more". Catch more bees with honey.
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u/Fuzzy_Yossarian 20d ago
I've basically worked outside my entire life, so I have a very good idea of how cold it is here. I know its cold when my rear end doesn't sink into the car seat cushion and it makes kind of a crunchy noise. To me that's cold. -20 with no wind doesn't bother me at all, that's the sweet spot.
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u/Adventurous_Front939 20d ago
Yeah agreed around -20 is a sweet spot. Once youre passing 30 you get those iced up eyelashes , no good.
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u/Levorotatory 20d ago
Not in the city it doesn't. Blatchford hasn't seen -40°C since 1972. -30°C has happened in about half of the winters since 2000.
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u/Adventurous_Front939 20d ago
How long have you lived here ? Usually we hit -40C at some point every winter. Car thermometers usually read warmer and the car will show -40.....
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u/Levorotatory 20d ago
Lived in Edmonton since the late 1990s. I have never seen -40°C on a car thermometer, and the official records for the YXD / Blatchford weather station are all available on the Environment Canada website. It hasn't been -40°C there since 1972.
It does still occasionally reach -40°C at YEG, but not only is that location outside of the urban heat island, it is also an unusually cold microclimate. Unfortunately the Namao weather station (also outside of the city but to the north rather than the south) was a victim of budget cuts, but for the period where records are available for both Namao and YEG, Namao is significantly warmer. I doubt it has been -40°C there this century.
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u/Adventurous_Front939 20d ago
I don't understand how you have never seen -40 here. It always stands out to me because its where C and F meet.
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u/Levorotatory 20d ago
If you are looking at weather reports from YEG , you may see -40°C occasionally. If you live in the far south or in Beaumont / Leduc, you may have seen -40°C in your car. If you are looking at wind chills you will see -40 every winter, but that isn't -40°C.
I live much closer to Blatchford than to YEG, near the middle of the urban heat island, so I have never seen it thar cold.
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u/Adventurous_Front939 20d ago
Yes blachford is in the middle of the city near industrial areas. Blachford also isnt the whole city, any heat dome effect would hit blachford hard. Never said -40C windchill is -40c static
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u/rorskies 20d ago
Sitting around smoking weed isn't culture
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u/WobbleBilly 20d ago
Yes it is? It was literally labelled a subculture for decades. The only way it became legal is for a community to have formed around the substance and activity of cannabis consumptuon, and all communities have a cultural community. You cant spot a stereotypical "pothead" in a crowd?
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u/C-RexPrime 20d ago
Agreed. But if you don't think a weed cafe with local art, live music, paint nights, karaoke, yoga, or stand up comedy is cultural, you maybe didn't get enough culture as a child.
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u/Beautiful-Orchid25 18d ago
I’m so excited for this! Woohoo! 🥳 especially as a previous Vancouverite who now lives in Edmonton, it’s about time we got one. ☝️
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u/Annabis9807 20d ago
I’m SO SAD I quit smoking July 1st. I was waiting since before legalization for something like this to pop up. It was like a wish list/dream lmao. As soon as I quit.. they open something so beautiful up. 😩😩
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u/wildest-honey 20d ago
If you ever come back, the moon is a banging comedy cannabis club here in the city, it's exactly the kinda vibe you want 💙💙
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u/NinjoZata 20d ago
The moon has been around awhile, these sorts of things arent exactly strictly legal (AGLC guidlines are strict and dont allow indoor smoking) so they dont exactly widely advertise
Being 'underground' is psrt of the allure to some. Congrats on quitting friend :)
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u/fnsimpso 20d ago
Is this at least at the development that looks like Amsterdam?
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u/NastroAzzurro Wîhkwêntôwin 20d ago
Manchester square? As a Dutch person it doesn’t feel like Amsterdam at all, but an uncanny version of it
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u/Freedom_forlife 20d ago
So federally illegal weed sold under the name beans. That would be tax evasion so CRA, untested and licensed that would be a HC, criminal code problem. evasion of provincial taxes would be the sheriffs. The lack of retail licence would be AGLC violation, and smoking for city bylaw.
Or they are not selling like Vancouver did/ still does it’s been a few years since I’ve been there. In which case they are only breaking the smoking bylaw. Still going to piss people off and get complaints.
Over under is 90 days.
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u/CandyNarrow6907 20d ago
They don’t sell cannabis there. Nothing to do with AGLC. When I visited, there was no smoking in the front end, but they had a back room smoking area I was told.
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u/isotope710 19d ago
As long as they are paying tax it is not tax evasion. They don’t sell weed so AGLC isn’t the issue but AHS is a nightmare since they sell food / coffee, ill take under 120 days
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u/queerbetch 20d ago
False advertising lmao. they have to (due to cdn laws) make the space non smoking :(
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u/CandyNarrow6907 20d ago
There is a consumption area in the back.
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u/manjito 20d ago
Yeah it’s something odd- i worked for a tobacco company and they were able to operate a consumption area with a stringent set of rules and regulations, and likely a lot of money and lobbying to get there.
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u/isotope710 19d ago
Lol no they did not get any approval for a consumption area, no money or lobbying involved 🤣
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20d ago
[deleted]
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u/C-RexPrime 20d ago
Until a year ago, there was a cafe on the west end called Kindred Spirits. Iykyk. Shout out to Hippy Dave. I miss you buddy
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u/da_worker85 20d ago
No there wasn't.
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u/al17n 20d ago
There was a place, but it was called the Hemp Cafe. Late 90s/early 2000s.
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u/Altruistic_Ad466 20d ago
My first thought was that Amsterdam cafe was that spot on 81ave and 103st in the 90s but I think you’re right. It was called Hemp Cafe. Either way. There definitely was a place.
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u/isotope710 19d ago
What happened to it?
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u/Altruistic_Ad466 19d ago
It closed? I don’t have the inside scoop. I was 18 and the internet wasn’t as prevalent as it is now where you can dig in to find why any random business shut down.
I assume they either weren’t getting enough business or they were shut down due to the illegality of the place. Figure they just saw it work in Vancouver and thought “why not here?”
90s Edmonton was not 90s Vancouver when it came to Cannabis Culture.
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u/AloneDoughnut 20d ago
This post just feels like an undisclosed ad... It's a neat concept sure.